1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with an improved process for the low cost extrusion production of breadings which can be applied to frozen foods such as fish and chicken. More particularly, the breadings of the invention eliminate the problem of "frosty tips", or the tendency of extrusion-produced breadings to give an unappealing, whitish appearance when applied to frozen foods which are ultimately baked or fried. The process of the invention involves use of a breading mixture containing flour, water and active yeast which is processed under relatively low temperature, shear, and pressure conditions within an extruder, followed by shredding and drying of the extrudate to yield the desired breadings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dry breadings are traditionally applied to a variety of foods such as fish, chicken and pork prior to cooking thereof. Further, such breadings are often applied to uncooked products prior to freezing so that the consumer may directly bake or fry the frozen item without the bother of breading application. Most breading products heretofore used in the context of frozen prepared foods have been traditionally prepared breads which have been shredded to yield breadings. However, breadings of this type are relatively expensive.
Attempts have been made in the past to extrude breadings. When initially applied to food products, such extruded breadings appear to be fully equivalent to their traditional counterparts. However, when such breadings are applied to foods subjected to freezing, the breadings tend to exhibit whitened outer tips when the frozen foods are cooked. This phenomenon is referred to in the art as "frosty tips", and has been the principal reason why food processors have not used the generally less expensive extrusion-produced breadings.